August 2012 -- Day Seven

Ok, Kiko, better late than never. This blog is for you. It's hard to believe this week is almost over but I'm ever so happy the boys will be returning next month!

Kiko has done so well with sitting for things like the doorway and his meal prep. You can really see an improvement in his duration every day...unless Poni is around. Then it's a lot harder for him. Whether they are feeding off of each other or competing for resources, it increases the difficulty in the exercises quite a bit.

So we practice a lot with just Kiko (and just Poni) so their skills are rock solid before we start working with them together. We can make it more challenging by adding distractions so we can start to build up to the point where they can do it together.

Kiko's leash skills are coming along nicely. We added more distractions in today which makes him jump up a bit more for the treat but he still stays in position. This will decrease quite a bit the more practice he gets (and the more often he is rewarded when his feet are on the ground). They are so fun at this age because you can see so much progress in a short amount of time.

He's been a bit naughty if I have to run out to the garbage or recycle bins so we'll need to work on the separation issue so he's a bit more comfortable when his people are out of sight. That boy is such a monkey!

Just a really cute, really sweet boy.

And one Poni picture with his awesome recall. I love a boy who flies when I call him to come!!

August 2012 -- Day Six

The boys met two new dogs today. Rosario was the first new meet and greet. She is Thistle's daughter and very much like her mother. That meet and greet was a no brainer for both boys. Poni didn't even give her so much as a bark. Maybe he thought she was just one of the black labs?

Poni has briefly met Billings at a puppy social. He was a little snappy at Billings when they met at the puppy social but not today. The meet and greet went well. Poni still gets a little cranky on occasion with the other dogs but, for the most part, he's been pretty playful with them.

The game of the day seemed to involve being under the bed.

I'm not sure what everyone was doing under there but I don't think I was invited to their party.

I don't think Poni knew what he was doing under there but he was sure having a good time.

Poni usually spends his time on the outside of the play but today he was much more involved.

He's real good at shaking his toys and bouncing all around his friends.

He's also found it useful to use his friends for a paw up when needed.

All in all he is much more relaxed around the other dogs and his introductions to the new dogs today went much more quickly than they have in the past.

Kiko, of course, gets along with everyone.

But the really nice thing with Kiko is he is very attentive to the humans even when his friends are around. And he LOVES his friends.

He's happy to leave his friends in the dust as soon as you call him.

Most impressive, though, is how well he's doing maintaining his sit. He can hold it for much longer now and his meal prep is going really, really well. Tomorrow we're going to try doing meal prep with both the boys together.

I'm sorry, Kiko, you got over shadowed again, didn't you? But your ability to hold your sit really is amazing.

August 2012 -- Day Five

Ok, Kiko, as promised, we'll focus a bit on you in this blog. But forgive me if I mention Poni once in a while. After all, he's doing so well.

So we've been working on "stay" with Kiko so help build up the amount of time he can stay seated during times of high excitement. Say is broken up into three components that are worked on separately. The first component we're starting with is Duration (the amount of time he can hold the position).

I do this by rewarding him periodically...frequently at first until he gets the idea. As he gets better, I'm going to space out the intervals between when he's getting the rewards. He's only going to get rewards when he's in the stay and, when he is released, it's going to be a nice calm release. I don't want him to anticipate a really exciting release because it would be hard for him to hold his stay. So far it's really paying off! He is sitting through his whole meal prep. It won't be long before he is ready to try meal prep with Poni.

We tried to get some good play in before it got too hot. We certainly wanted to take advantage of the fact that Poni was actually playing with other dogs.

Something that we discovered over the last couple of days is that Poni does a little bit better with the other dogs when he has a toy in his mouth that he can shake.

He is doing much, much better with the other dogs (sorry, Kiko, I can't help talking about him).

It was another hot day so we quickly migrated indoors.

Poni did well with sharing space most of the time. On occasion, he would get a little cranky if someone approached him when he was sleeping but we are working on that.

Kiko, on the other hand, is happy to have his space invaded.

A lot of napping happening today with all the heat.

August 2012 -- Day Four

Kiko, I apologize for the very little attention you will get on this blog entry. I promise to focus on you more in tomorrow's entry. You were just completely overshadowed by Poni today...there was no getting around it.

After several days of very slowly introducing Poni to new dogs, he was able to join the group today for play. No barriers, no leash...just Poni. He was shy at first and was a bit hesitant but that didn't last very long.

Going at his own speed he was able to approach dogs when he felt comfortable

The dogs were good and read his body language well so they didn't overwhelm him.

These were breeds that he has not had much contact with at my house so it's all very new to him.

There were times when he was more brave sitting on my lap. That's fine. When he was brave I praised him a lot and I kept everything very light and fun so he would know that I wasn't worried.

This is such a huge step for Poni! He made my day today!!

I was really pleased to see that he was actively involved with the other dogs. It's ok if he doesn't want to play with them but very exciting when he does choose to play with them!

And seeing him initiate play with other dogs was HUGE!!!

It was worth a good toy shake!

A very happy sight indeed...

Careful, Poni, people might start thinking that you like those other dogs.

August 2012 -- Day Three

We tried to soak up as much of the sun today as we could because tomorrow is suppose to be HOT and we plan to spend a good chunk of the day hanging out by the AC vents.

The boys play well together and only need occasional reminders to settle down. There is a lot of give and take in their play which is a really good sign.

Poni's not too thrilled with the whole "take" part of the relationship...especially when it's his favorite stick.

But he's crafty and he manages to win it back.

Another good sign that their play is nice and healthy...after getting his stick back, the first thing he does is look for Kiko to play with him again. It's a concern if he's always darting off with the toy or stick and being possessive of it, but that's not the case. He really just wants to play with him.

Nice boys! Even if Kiko plays the pesky little brother role sometimes, for the most part, they get along famously.

We're working hard on their self-control. Kiko has come a long way since his first visit here. He's quick to figure out that I want a sit from him...usually even quicker than Poni.

But he has a harder time holding his sit in a stay. We'll be working a lot on that over the week so he's better able to control himself when his meal is being prepped or he wants in or out of a door or when he's getting ready to go for a walk.

Poni may be slower to figure out sometimes that I want him to sit but he can hold that sit much longer than Kiko (most times). So for Poni, we'll work more on responsiveness to requests. Some of this may be adolescence but it will still help him to practice and learn to be more responsive.

Time to retreat inside. We're hoping the heat doesn't melt us all tomorrow. Thankfully we have plenty to work on in the house.